In Messina, as Don Pedro, the Prince of Arragon, and his officers return from a recently concluded war, a message comes to Leonato that the prince intends to visit his house for a month. The Duke’s party arrives with Count Claudio, who had before the war been attracted by Leonato’s only daughter, Hero. Another of the visitors is Benedick, a bachelor, who enjoys speaking his mind in witty argument with Hero’scousin and companion, the Lady Beatrice.

Leonato holds a masked ball to celebrate the end of the war and the engagement of Claudio to Hero is arranged while the Duke’s brother, Don John, resenting the celebrations, seeks a way to spoil the general happiness. Don John plots with the soldiers, Borachio and Conrade, to deceive Claudio into believing Hero is false to him. As a result a trick is carried out with the unwitting assistance of Hero’s maid, Margaret, who talks from Hero’s bedroom window with Borachio at night while Claudio and the Duke watch secretly from a distance, under the delusion that the girl at the window is Hero.

Hero and Don Pedro meanwhile are convinced that Benedick and Beatrice are ideal partners and by means of overheard conversations the two realise they do indeed love one another.

At the wedding Claudio denounces Hero and leaves her apparently dead from shock, while her father, Beatrice and Benedick, amazed at the situation, decide that with the aid of the priest. Hero’s recovery should be concealed until her name can be cleared. Help is at hand as the village constable, Dogberry, and his assistants have arrested Borachio and Conrade after overhearing them boasting of their deception of Claudio and the Duke.

The play comes to a joyful conclusion when Dogberry’s information is, eventually, after some difficulty, given to Leonato and Don Pedro. Claudio agrees to accept Leonato’s ‘niece’ whom he has never met, in place of Hero, whom he believes has been killed by his slander. The ‘niece’ turns out to be Hero, and as the lovers are reunited Benedick and Beatrice announce that they will share the wedding day. Don John has been captured while trying to escape and is left for future trial while the play ends with a merry dance.

Yeah, so the dang point of a summary is it’s not supposed to be as long as the actual play. Ugh you people are no freakin’ help. Shakespear is retarted. He lived a bazillion million years ago. Why do we need to learn about him here in uhm, I dunno’ 2012?

Tiffany! Shakespeare lived 400 years ago, and his plays are classic, meaning they deal with timeless themes and with human nature, which doesn’t change. Their relevance endures. A thinking person with a little life experience under his/her belt recognizes this.

If you can get past the antiquated language, the stories are enjoyable and thought-provoking. You might recognize people you know in some of the characters, especially the most flawed ones.

Tiffany,
If you hate Shakespeare so much, then don’t look him up. Poeple like him because he is the most amazing writer- at least thats what I think- in history. Shakespeare changed this world. If he had not existed, we would not be as smart, as dramatically challenged, or as knowledgable as we are now. So if you honestly don’t like Shakespeare, than Drama is NOT for you. You don’t have to go around telling us that he is a waste of time! Shakespeare wrote more than you will ever write! If you want to know why people like Shakespeare, maybe use some of the time you spent writing that hateful commment to actually read his amazing work. Okay? So stop judging us, and maybe actually respect somebody’s opinion. PLEASE stop judging other people. Also, if you want a short summary, than read the play and write it yourself! Thanks for this amazing article so much, @nosweatshakespeare, because it was very accurate on the play. And I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, @tiffany, but your comment hurt mine, and I don’t think that it is right to go around telling us that shakespeare isn’t worth the time of day. @Andrea, thanks for understanding

Tiffany, i get it, but your job is to read over the story and to make a summary of it. im doing a report on shakespeare and he seems pretty awesome to me. you should not have done a paper or looked him up because apparently, you just wouldn’t get it.